Peter Pan's notebook entry: Mar 30, 2011

Today begins with a nice start [1]. It's my third week in the new company. I am gettling familiar with the new job, getting along well with colleagues, and my boss seems to attach more importance to me [2]. Everything was going on well since until this afternoon i went into boss's office and helped to wash her bowl when she was away (we have kitchen and boss sometimes cooks).

Because my seat is [just/right] [3] outside of the boss's office, I just happened to see the dirty bowl and went to wash it just with my instinct. I didn't mean to ingratiate  [curry favor with the/suck up to the/kiss the butt of the] boss [4], it's just my habit to keep things clean and it's not a big deal in my eye. I didn't want to make it public.

But then I recieved the words from my colleague. She said that she would never do the clean not have done that if she were me. She thought people may mind others touching their bowls, and boss would suspect me if i  of stealing something from the office. But the things is was that she saw me went go in for only one second and I did not touch or watch look at anything [5]. She made this comments three hours after I washed the bowl. She could have told me immediately if she thought i was doing something improper, for there were only two of us in the company today. All i did was trying to help.

What's more, she said I should leave my notebook in the office. Why should i do that? it's my private notebook. Her meaning was that the boss would suspect if i took some information away. For God's sake, there is no secret information at all! Everyday we just use the internet information to work. Every piece of information i get is public on the web which anyone can get. If the boss requires us to keep secrets and leave everything in the office, of course i will do it. But the boss didn't ask us to do notes -- the reason i bring my notebook is because i am lack of experience and I want to learn. I am afraid to make mistakes. i take notes to make my job organized and sometimes i write a diary in it. It's a very personal thing with personal notes.

In addition, she just entered the company at the same time with as me, so how does she know what the boss suspect this and that thinks? But one thing she told which i never had not heard about yet was that our boss hired someone before who just wanted to learn how to operate a language school (we are a chinese school). That guy worked very hard, even worked overtime, and then left. She emphasized the "hard working," which seemed to be pointing at me, cause since i also work overtime.
She is older than me and has much more work experience than me. i respect her and take her as a guide. if she wants something, i'm just at her service. But i don't like to be accused [suspect], even she was just being kind enough to remind me. [6]

What she said sounded like playing me off against the boss. As far as i know, the boss is not so [suspicious] distrustful as she said. The boss is a nice girl who is just as young as me, i don't think she, the boss, would act so [suspicious] devious, like an old fox. In my eye, she, the colleague, is too sensitive and somewhat doubtful [suspicious]. There's something going on in her mind, i just don't know what it is can't imagine. i disgree with her in many points, but i can't say it aloud.

1. Putting "begin" and "start" together is redundant. Consider using, "Today began nicely" or "Today had a nice start."

2. To attach importance to something means to consider something important. I'm not sure what you're expressing, but this phrase doesn't sound appropriate. It might be better to say, "My boss values my work."
3. In this situation, just and right mean the same thing. Use one or the other.
4. In this case, ingratiate would be technically correct if you said, "I wasn't trying to ingratiate myself to the boss." However, I think the meaning you are trying to convey is that you were not doing it just to make a superior like you. Also, you may substitute "I wasn't trying to" for "I didn't mean." "I didn't mean" implies that it was not your intention to do something, but that you did it. "I wasn't trying to" implies that your intentions were pure. I know the difference is subtle. :)
5. "Watch" means to look in a sustained, continuous fashion. If you were in the office, you probably only gazed at something for a moment, so it's better to say "look at" here.
6. Be careful of the use of the word suspicious. I inserted it once where it was appropriate, but "suspect" and "suspicious" are used slightly differently in English from how 怀疑 and 可疑 are used in Chinese. I'm probably not qualified to explain, but pay extra attention when using those English words.
7. The letter "i," when it is alone in a sentence and carries the meaning of 我, should always be capitalized. The "i" in "I'm" should always be capitalized as well.

Anyway, your English writing is very impressive! Keep working hard!